Tottenham to ask fans about banning of Y-word chants

The White Hart Lane faithful call themselves the “Yid Army” in response to anti-Semitic chants by opposition fans (Getty Images)

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club will ask their fans if they think the time is right to stop singing chants that include the Y-word.

Tottenham have a strong Jewish following, and for years have endured cruel anti-Semitic abuse from opposition fans.

To defy their abusers, some Tottenham fans have taken to calling themselves “Yids” and chants of “Yids”, “Yid Army” and “Yiddos” can be heard at White Hart Lane.

Last Monday the Football Association (FA) issued a warning to Tottenham supporters that the continuation could result in either a banning or criminal persecution.

Tottenham said that they will consult their fans and have since revealed that they will ask their season-ticket holders in the form of a questionnaire.

“There is a document that Spurs will be sending out to season-ticket holders in due course,” Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust (THST) chairman Darren Alexander said.

“It’s a questionnaire, and basically what the club want to ascertain is do the fans think now is the right time to be stop using this identity.

“If that comes back and a clear majority of fans think: yes, now is the time, then we move forward and we will work actively with the club if they want us to and we will think about how is best to do that.”

The Tottenham fans responded to the FA’s warning by chanting “We’ll sing what we want” and “Yid Army” as they beat Norwich City 2-0 at home on Saturday. The Tottenham fans responded similarly last season when Peter Herbert, the head of the Society of Black Lawyers, threatened to report anyone using the phrase to the police.

The THST are unhappy that the FA decided to be so bullish in their statement, without consulting the club or the fans first.

“If Spurs fans genuinely are going to stop using this word then it should be our decision,” Alexander said.

“It shouldn’t be something that is trying to be forced on us by the FA or Peter Herbert.

“There was a degree of defiance on Saturday and that was always going to happen with the way that the FA has gone about this.

The FA’s threat to persecute anyone using the word under criminal law may ring hollow as they would have to prove that the word is being used in a pejorative manner.

“I know it is offensive to some Jewish people, but our focus is the legality of what the FA has announced this week,” Alexander said.

“As far as we are concerned and as far as the police are concerned, unless there is an intent to offend, then you can’t be prosecuted.

“We sincerely believe that no Spurs fan ever uses the Y-word or shouts Yid Army in an effort to offend anyone.”

The FA have yet to make further comment on the matter.